Move over Facebook, ‘Fast and Furious’ has carjacked the #f8 hashtag
Nerds who like Facebook, meet nerds who like fast cars.
Facebook’s annual developer conference, known as F8, opens today. Already tweets and social media posts about the affair, widely expected to put Facebook’s entire technological prowess on display, are everywhere.
So a little bit of trolling can be expected.
The eighth movie in the “Fast and Furious” series is set to open next year, and the franchise is using the #f8 hashtag to get some buzz going about the film. (It announced Monday that Scott Eastwood would be joining the cast of the movie.)
It’s working: Search for the #f8 hashtag on Twitter and, except for a single story about the Facebook conference, the top hits are photos of Eastwood and a tweet from the “Fast and Furious” featuring a photo of Eastwood with the hashtag prominently displayed (1,700 retweets and counting).
The movie has been using the #f8 hashtag on and off since it announced Charlize Theron would be in the film on April 8. (Before that, they used variations like #Fast8 and #FF8.)
Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody has a new protégé. Welcome @ScottEastwood to the Fast family. 4.14.17. #F8 pic.twitter.com/HsYxrKnS5E
— Fast & Furious (@FastFurious) April 11, 2016
According to Brandwatch, the #f8 hashtag has been used 1,300 times so far in the last month. There were spikes: The first was when the Theron casting was announced, while the second was the Eastwood announcement. Now, over the next few days, expect the Facebook conference tweets to take over: About 500 of the total 1,300 tweets using the hashtag include a reference to the movie, said Brandwatch analyst Kellan Terry.
People are noticing:
I love how the Fast & Furious franchise has also chosen the #F8 hashtag while Facebook’s developer conference is on. https://t.co/Bir9FDLyC9
— Olivia Solon (@oliviasolon) April 12, 2016
Searching the #F8 hashtag for details on the new #Facebook announcements and @FastFurious news just keeps showing up. -_-
— Laura Rafferty (@LooRaff) April 12, 2016
There might be some overlap between people still watching the “Fast” movies and those glued to techie announcements from Facebook, so this is probably a win.
More in Marketing
WTF is the American Privacy Rights Act
Who knows if or when it’ll actually happen, but the proposed American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) is as close as the U.S. has ever come to a federal law that manages to straddle the line between politics and policy.
Here’s how some esports orgs are positioning themselves to withstand esports winter
Here’s a look into how four leading esports orgs are positioning themselves for long-term stability and sustainability, independent of the whims of brand marketers.
Marketing Briefing: Marketers eye women’s sports as a growth area amid WNBA draft, record March Madness
Marketers are considering the space more this year, according to agency execs, with some noting that the women’s athletes may get more attention from brands ahead of the Summer Olympics this July.